Two southern districts of the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh have been seized by Islamic State militants, who entered the city after heavy clashes with government troops, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group.

The observatory also said that earlier this day, Islamic State militants re-entered the northern Syrian city of Kobane following fierce clashes with Kurdish forces.

Upper House MP Igor Morozov has said that the current mass rallies in Armenia resemble the first phase of the latest coup in Ukraine, adding that the crisis could be being managed by the United States from their major diplomatic mission in Yerevan.

Earlier this week thousands of people took into streets in this city protesting increased electricity prices. The rallies ended in violent clashes with police that left dozens of people from both sides injured and hundreds of activists arrested.

As negotiators are about to gather in Vienna for the final round of talks on Iran’s controversial nuclear program, the US is offering concessions to Tehran to sweeten the deal, a draft document detailing would-be deal’s term shows.

The negotiations between Iran and six leading world powers are to kick off in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Friday, with deadline set for June 30. Diplomats however indicated that the talks may drag past the date, as was the case with the previous round that produced a preliminary agreement, which seeks to scale down the program in exchange for lifting of international sanctions.

Poroshenko Signs Off on Amendments to Law on Foreign Troops in Ukraine

A punitive war in Ukraine is to continue due to foreign troops. President Petro Poroshenko signed Thursday amendments to the law on admission and presence of foreign troops on the Ukrainian territory, which envisions international peacekeeping and security assistance to Ukraine at its request.

According to Poroshenko’s official website, the amended law creates necessary conditions for deployment on the territory of Ukraine international peacekeeping and security missions without the need for additional legal authorization.